I loved the Urban EV Concept so much that I bought the $200 Swiss scale model. Unfortunately the camouflaged 5-door production mule seen on the 'net predicts that the actual car will not be anywhere near as attractive as Yuki Terai's 3-door concept design (especially his gorgeous C-pillar).

After driving our Clarity Plug-In Hybrid for 10 months before visiting a gas station, it has proven to be the gateway drug leading to EVs. So despite the production-version's compromises, I want whatever they finally call the Urban EV very much.

It's very expensive to develop an EV platform (just ask VW), so I assume Honda's not going to make multiple, incompatible EV platforms. So I believe the company should sell a small number of these EVs in the US to give dealers some experience with the new platform before bringing the mass-market HR-V EV or whatever to North America--much like they did with the limited-production 1st gen Insight (which I still drive).

Charge a bunch to make it a new kind of exclusive halo car for Honda. I'd pay $40K for even a 100-mile range Urban EV if it came with the concept's cool full-dashboard-width LED display and fancy interior trimmings.

It can't be easy to go from 0 to 5,000 cars that are based on a new electric platform. Keeping the initial numbers small gives Honda a chance to figure out how to source the batteries, set up the factory space, and learn to build this entirely new platform.

I've read Honda's planning to position the Urban EV as a premium, technology-packed alternative to the Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe. That makes sense because if Honda isn't going build more than 5,000 of these EVs annually, why not sell them at whatever high price (>$30K) the market will bear? If it looks anywhere near as good as the concept (now doubtful) it could be the EV everyone wishes they could afford if they had more disposable income.

In contrast, when Honda sold me my 1st gen Insights, they didn't pack them with premium content and sold them for a mere $22K, even though the all-aluminum car cost twice that much to manufacture. The artificially low price was what it took to get us beta testers to buy one.

This time, it appears Honda wants the beta testers to pay what it costs to make this new EV. I've got my wallet in my hand and my sleeping bag ready to hang out for days in line at the dealer--if only Honda can be convinced it makes sense (profit/PR value) to bring a car smaller than the slow-selling Fit to North America, the land of the SUV.

After 13 months in our Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, I've been captivated by its smooth, torquey EV power--smoother than even a V-12. I don't need Tesla-level acceleration, but that smooth acceleration sells lots of Teslas.

Amazingly, with today's ridiculously low gas prices, it actually costs more to drive our Clarity PHEV on EV power than on ICE power! However I plug it in after every drive, eagerly anticipating my next EV-powered excursion.

I've owned more than 25 cars, many of them sports cars and this newfound embrace of EV power was a surprise to me. For me the visceral appeal of EV power easily outweighs the cost.

My appreciation for the clean design of the Honda Urban EV Concept along with its potential for being a small, good-handling EV-powered runabout has me trying to figure out how to convince Honda to sell me one, even though it certainly won't be as pretty as the concept.